SIDS Alert: If You Swaddle Your Baby Before You Put Him Down to Sleep, You Need to Read This ASAP! by Donna John

Many parents swear by swaddling – wrapping Baby up tightly in a blanket with their arms inside – to help their baby sleep. But a study has found that infants who are swaddled for sleep have a higher risk of dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and the risk is even higher if they’re placed on their stomachs. The risk of SIDS increased even more as the infant got closer to 6 months of age.

"Babies who were swaddled were 50 to 60 percent more likely to die of SIDS," said lead researcher of the study, Dr. Rachel Moon, who is a professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1,500 babies died from SIDS in the U.S. in 2014 and it is the leading cause of death in infants under 1 year of age. Researchers are not sure why there is a link between SIDS and swaddling.

Read more about this study on swaddling and SIDS here!